BookStack vs Trilium Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
BookStack
Simple self-hosted documentation and wiki platform
VS
Trilium Notes
Hierarchical note-taking for building knowledge bases
| Feature | BookStack | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 99 · Excellent |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known in v26.09.1 | None known in v0.106.0 |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,079 | ★ 38,313 |
| First released | 2017 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Evernote, Notion |
What are BookStack and Trilium Notes?
BookStack
BookStack is a self-hosted platform for organizing and storing documentation in a books, chapters, and pages structure. It targets teams that want an approachable wiki without complexity. It is deployed via Docker or a LAMP stack.
- Books, chapters and pages structure
- WYSIWYG and Markdown editors
- Roles, permissions and SSO
- Full-text search
Trilium Notes
Trilium Notes is a hierarchical note-taking application designed for building large personal knowledge bases with rich linking and scripting. It targets power users who want a structured second brain. It is deployed via Docker as a server with desktop and web clients.
- Deep hierarchical note tree
- Note attributes and relations
- Scripting and automation
- Encrypted protected notes
BookStack vs Trilium Notes: key differences
BookStack is written in PHP, while Trilium Notes is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for BookStack versus AGPL-3.0 for Trilium Notes. Trilium Notes is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for BookStack. Trilium Notes has the considerably larger community, at 38,313 GitHub stars versus 19,079.
Why pick each one
Choose BookStack if…
- Very easy to learn
- Clean organized structure
- Good permissions
Watch out for
- Rigid structure for some
- Fewer integrations than rivals
Choose Trilium Notes if…
- Powerful for big knowledge bases
- Flexible structure
- Scriptable
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Single-user oriented
Frequently asked questions
Is BookStack or Trilium Notes better?
Neither is universally better. Trilium Notes has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BookStack and Trilium Notes free and open-source?
Yes. BookStack is licensed under MIT and Trilium Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BookStack and Trilium Notes with Docker?
BookStack: yes. Trilium Notes: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, BookStack or Trilium Notes?
Trilium Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for BookStack. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.